Clerks (1994)
Film details
Comedy · Kevin Smith · 1h 32min
Synopsis
Convenience and video store clerks Dante and Randal are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed and bored out of their minds. So in between needling customers, the counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their love lives.
Verdict
Independent comedy with extremely vulgar language and explicit verbal sexual references.
In-depth analysis
Clerks is a cult independent comedy that captures with stark realism the lives of two young clerks trapped in dead-end jobs. The film's strength lies in its witty dialogues about popular culture and the chemistry between the protagonists, but the entry price is high: the language is extremely vulgar from beginning to end, with constant profanity and graphic sexual references in practically every scene. Conversations about sexuality are explicit and crude, though without visual imagery. The underlying problem is not technical but philosophical: the film celebrates cynicism and mediocrity as a way of life. The characters do not grow, do not learn, and aspire to nothing more than to survive the day by complaining. It is a nihilistic vision packaged as a generational comedy. For parents: the humor can be intelligent at times, but the constant vulgarity and the total absence of virtue or aspiration make it exclusively adult content. Not recommended for minors nor for families seeking something edifying.